Original U.S. WWII M-1941 Field Jacket with Axis Prisoner of War PW Stenciled Uniform Jacket with Copy of Note Found in Pocket with Names of Fallen Comrades

Original Item: One-of-a-Kind. WWII Military Issue Model 1941 Field Jacket, as issued to American troops during the war. This jacket was reissued to an Axis Prisoner of War, most likely on the American Homefront. There is very heavy period repairing to the jacket including large slashes in the back and sleeves. This jacket was likely near junk before it was repaired at a depot and reused for POWs. 

As World War II raged on the other side of the globe, Allies, such as Great Britain, were running short of prison space to house POWs. From 1942 through 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps in rural areas across the country. Some 500 POW facilities were built, mainly in the South and Southwest but also in the Great Plains and Midwest.

At the same time that the prison camps were filling up, farms and factories across America were struggling with acute labor shortages. The United States faced a dilemma. According to Geneva Convention protocols, POWs could be forced to work only if they were paid, but authorities were afraid of mass escapes that would endanger the American people. Eventually, they relented and put tens of thousands of enemy prisoners to work, assigning them to canneries and mills, to farms to harvest wheat or pick asparagus, and just about any other place they were needed and could work with minimum security.

The Prisoners of War sent to the United States were still clothed with their enemy uniform in which they were captured. Having to cloth Prisoners of War was yet another issue the U.S. Government has to contend with. The solution was to issue enemy POWs with reissued GI garments, obsolete garments, or factory defect garments. These items were occasionally dyed a different color, or simply stenciled with “P.W” (Prisoner War) on the front and back.  

This particular garment is a GI issue M-1941 Field Jacket reissued to an Axis Prisoner of War. The Jacket exhibits heavy wear from heavy use and features a black-stenciled “PW” on both the front and back along with the sleeves. Size is approximately a US 38. 

There was a note in the pocket with the names of several German soldiers with “In Memory” above them. The original note is not included, but there is a photocopy of the note and another small note of someone transcribing the names on the original note. Perhaps an avenue for further research.

These are seldom found items today, as most were destroyed at the end of WWII following the release of the prisoners.